Community managers are becoming mainstream

Aug 3, 2010 by Stephanie

: Image via Wikipedia

It seems like I’ve been talking to people a lot lately about community managers. They’re not a new concept, but as the notion of having someone (or a small team) managing all aspects of social engagement for a brand is becoming more mainstream, my clients are starting to think about how this type of position could fit into their company.

The position at it’s core is often described as the primary community engager and brand evangelist. The platforms a brand uses to engage, the frequency of engagement, the brand voice – all of that varies widely by brand. But the community manager is the glue that holds together all of the touch points, messages and conversations that a brand is having with it’s customers.

Premier Social Media has a great overview of the community manager role, and there are a number of great job descriptions for community managers out there; nonetheless, I’ll submit the following as my own contribution.

Community Manager Job Description

Act as the primary brand evangelist in social media, implementing social marketing strategies and maintaining the voice and presence for the brand
Monitor, manage and proactively engage in day-to-day interactions for the product on blog, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube community platforms (modify this for platforms brand is engaged in)
Create or edit compelling content for use on blog, Twitter, Facebook and in other social media venues
Participate in appropriate third-party web forums transparently on behalf of the brand
Follow and read relevant blogs and comment authentically on posts, linking back to product blog
Brainstorm and suggest tie-ins and campaigns for social media platforms, leveraging content and partnerships
Maintain and refresh all brand content on platforms, working with technical, marketing and PR teams to gather assets
Work with other departments, particularly customer service, to manage customer responses appropriately
Monitor for product and category mentions in social media venues
Cross-promote content across social platforms and across corporate platforms as appropriate
Conduct periodic assessment with community members to determine future strategies
Maintain weekly reports on platforms and report out to senior management monthly
Stay current on social media trends and tools by reading, attending conferences, and networking with other social media professionals

Of course, as with everything in social media, this is not a one-size-fits-all approach. You may have very individualized social media functions and therefore want to separate customer service into it’s own social media team. Or you may have a successfully running multi-author blog that doesn’t really need management – though they may want help in engaging users around their content. If you are creating a community manager position or trying to retrofit someone into one, I encourage you to take your time and craft something specific to your organization.

Do you have a community manager in your company? Or are you a community manager yourself? We’d love to know more about how community engagement is structured within your company; please let us know in the comments.